SEQUIM — Starting today, a variety of private lairs filled with art — from dreamlike watercolors to metal sculpture — will swing their doors open for the Sequim Studio Tour, another free showcase of the Dungeness Valley’s charms, during Sequim’s Lavender Weekend.
This annual tour showcases 19 local artists and 12 studios, all of which are open from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. today and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The stops on the tour range from sculptor John McBride’s Rickety Ranch, 112 Raintree Lane, to Rock Hollow Farm, a venue for five artists at 505 E. Silberhorn Road.
Women and men
On past tours, Rock Hollow has belonged to the “Barn Sisterhood”: Mary Franchini, who specializes in collage, mixed media and gouache; and multimedia painters Lynne Armstrong and Susan Gansert Shaw.
This year, the sisters are joined by the Men in Blue: Brian Buntain and Ed Crumley, who construct one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces with precious metals and semiprecious stones.
Cynthia Thomas, a sculptor and mask-maker whose studio has been part of the tour for years, hailed her fellow participants, such as Patricia Gordon and Richard O’Connor, who are showing their work together in Gordon’s studio at 346 Glenns Valley Road.
Fused glass
Two fused-glass artists, Renee Mullikin and Susan O’Brien, will share Mullikin’s studio at 73 Idea Place, while Roberta Cooper will display her award-winning gourd creations at Gorgeous Gourds, 241 Serpentine Ave.
Sally Cays, another well-known Sequim painter, will showcase her lush watercolors in her studio at 101 W. Robert Place off Woodcock Road.
Also during the tour, each artist donates a piece to Sequim Arts, a nonprofit group that provides scholarships and community education programs. The works are raffled off to raise money for those programs. Tickets are available at every studio and the drawings held at 5 p.m. Sunday.
For much more on the artists, examples of their work and directions to their studios, visit www.SequimStudioTour.org.
Brochures are also available at both Sequim visitor information centers, 1192 E. Washington St. and 163 W. Washington St. downtown.
To reach the visitor center, phone 360-683-6197.
________
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
